Rocky Lombardi

Rocky Lombardi (born July 30, 1998) is an American football quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan State Spartans and the Northern Illinois Huskies.

Early life and high school
Lombardi grew up in Clive, Iowa and attended Valley High School. He was rated a three-star recruit and committed to play college football at Michigan State over offers from Iowa, Iowa State, Northern Illinois, Virginia and Western Michigan.

Michigan State
Lombardi was redshirted during his true freshman year in 2017 and was named the Scout Team Offensive Player of the Week after his performance against Iowa. During the 2018 season, he played in eight games (seven playing as a quarterback and one as a punter) and started three of them at quarterback. He finished the season with completing 68 out of 154 passing attempts for 738 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. During the 2019 season, he played in eight games while in limited action and finished the season with playing 51 snaps, completing 7 out of 21 passing attempts for 74 yards and two interceptions. During the 2020 season, he played in and started six games finishing the season with completing 84 out of 157 passing attempts for a career-high 1,090 yards, eight touchdowns and nine interceptions. He was named to the Manning Award Stars of the Week, the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award's Great 8 List and the Manning Award National Quarterback of the Week after his performance against Michigan.

On December 18, 2020, Lombardi announced that he would be entering the transfer portal. On December 27, 2020, he announced that he would be transferring to Northern Illinois.

Northern Illinois
During the 2021 season, Lombardi played in and started 13 games and finished the season with completing 200 out of 343 passing attempts for 2,597 yards with 15 touchdown passes and eight interceptions. He was named the MAC West Offensive Player of the Week for two consecutive weeks with the first being after his performance during the Week 4 game against Maine where he ran for a season-high 119 yards on 10 carries with three rushing scores. He was named the MAC West Offensive Player of the Week for the second time in the season after his performance during the Week 8 game against Central Michigan where he completed 17 out of 27 passing attempts for 348 yards with three touchdowns earning a win for the Huskies.

During the 2022 season, he played in four games because of an injury he suffered through after the Week 3 game against Vanderbilt. He finished the season with completing 50 out of 75 passing attempts for 645 yards and five touchdowns. Prior to the season, he was named to the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watchlist.

Lombardi returned for the 2023 season after receiving a medical redshirt. Prior to the season, he was named to the Reese's Senior Bowl Watchlist.

Professional career
Lombardi signed as an undrafted free agent with the Cincinnati Bengals on April 27, 2024. He was also selected by the Michigan Panthers in the fifth round of the 2024 UFL draft on July 17.

Personal life
Lombardi is the son of football coach Tony Lombardi and is the grandson of the late Bob Lombardi. His younger brother Beau plays college football for the Army Black Knights.